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Sub-Basement: Redux (Annotated)

2016

acrylic, ink and collage on canvas

48" x 24"

Unsold

1500

These is from the series of paintings created to accompany my play "Sub-Basement," which is being (or "was", depending on when you are reading this) produced at IRT in NYC (March 23-April 16, 2017) and at the Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring, MD (June 1-18, 2017). The play was developed over three years by Athena Theatre Company (NY), for whom it was written, with input from the Producer Veronique Ory, and other NY dramaturgs and directors.

The creation of these works was supported by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, MD.

Sub-Basement is a dramedy about the importance of art and imagination in our increasingly structured society. Adrienne is going on a trip to New York City that her Father to meet a man who she met on the Internet: one last vacation before entering her chosen field (chosen by her father). A one-time aspiring poet living off the grid on a farm in Ontario, she is now about to enter Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where her Father is a detective.

Upon her arrive at Port Authority Bus Terminal, she is chosen by two homeless men to undergo a “teaching.” “Why her?” asks one, to which the other replies: “That depends on whether you believe in coincidence or destiny.”

She finds a notice in the bathroom and sets off on a journey to discover – or perhaps rediscover – who she is. Squired along by the two homeless men, Gustav (a one-time climatologist) and Arnaud (an erstwhile poet), she is taken on a voyage into her psyche, all the while being pursued by Simon, who (unbeknownst to her) is now her fiancé.

In the end, Adrienne must decide. Normalcy or art. And so she does.

The paintings explore the interior voyage of our hero, and the things that take place in the Sub Basement of all of our subconsciousnesses . . .

These is from the series of paintings created to accompany my play "Sub-Basement," which is being (or "was", depending on when you are reading this) produced at IRT in NYC (March 23-April 16, 2017) and at the Highwood Theatre in Silver Spring, MD (June 1-18, 2017). The play was developed over three years by Athena Theatre Company (NY), for whom it was written, with input from the Producer Veronique Ory, and other NY dramaturgs and directors.

The creation of these works was supported by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, MD.

Sub-Basement is a dramedy about the importance of art and imagination in our increasingly structured society. Adrienne is going on a trip to New York City that her Father to meet a man who she met on the Internet: one last vacation before entering her chosen field (chosen by her father). A one-time aspiring poet living off the grid on a farm in Ontario, she is now about to enter Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where her Father is a detective.

Upon her arrive at Port Authority Bus Terminal, she is chosen by two homeless men to undergo a “teaching.” “Why her?” asks one, to which the other replies: “That depends on whether you believe in coincidence or destiny.”

She finds a notice in the bathroom and sets off on a journey to discover – or perhaps rediscover – who she is. Squired along by the two homeless men, Gustav (a one-time climatologist) and Arnaud (an erstwhile poet), she is taken on a voyage into her psyche, all the while being pursued by Simon, who (unbeknownst to her) is now her fiancé.

In the end, Adrienne must decide. Normalcy or art. And so she does.

The paintings explore the interior voyage of our hero, and the things that take place in the Sub Basement of all of our subconsciousnesses . . .